


Here's to Being Human

by Sureokaywhatever



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Background Character Death, Getting Together, Guns, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Period Typical Violence, background YamaYachi, implied asanoya - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:00:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26004559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sureokaywhatever/pseuds/Sureokaywhatever
Summary: “You stayin’ for a while?” Kageyama asked.Hinata hesitated. “I suppose so.”“What for?”Kageyama didn’t get a response to that question, but he didn’t fault Hinata for it. He could keep his secrets.---In a small town like his, Kageyama doesn't see a lot of unfamiliar faces. When Hinata arrives, he's intrigued.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 5
Kudos: 39





	Here's to Being Human

**Author's Note:**

> Title taken from Three Days Grace.

A high-noon shoutout was actually a rare occurrence. Most times you preferred to get the drop on someone unannounced, seeing that there was a higher chance you’d come out alive. Those were rare in this town too, but they happened more often.

Like right now, apparently.

Kageyama startled in his seat at the sound of a gunshot in the saloon, but a quick glance told him it wasn’t anything for him to worry about. A man - Kageyama didn’t know his name - fell to the floor. Word was that he’d been cheating at cards and making bets he couldn’t keep - clearly he’d stuck around for too long. 

Tanaka’s revolver lowered, and he set it back into its holster. As the unofficial security, Kageyama wasn’t surprised he’d been the one to pull the trigger.

He still raised an eyebrow, though, when Tanaka glanced at him.

“What? He was askin’ for it!” Tanaka reached down and took the man’s watch from his wrist. “And I’m takin’ this back, too.” The man probably hadn’t even had to cheat to win that - Tanaka couldn’t play a good game of poker to save his life. Any cards he played were just a pretense, everyone knew that he mostly hung around in the saloon for the girls. Or more specifically, one girl. 

“You better be planning to take him outside.” Kiyoko had a displeased look on her face, which was rare. Evidently it was reserved for when people were shot in front of her. “He’ll be smelling soon.”

Kiyoko, one of the saloon girls, had been in charge of telling Tanaka what to do for as long as Kageyama had been around. Besides Sawamura, the sheriff, she was the only one who could. That didn’t mean she reciprocated his feelings, though, as much as it meant that she understood them and used them to her advantage. Kageyama liked her. She was a smart one. This was also demonstrated by the outline of a Derringer pistol under her skirt.

Tanaka finished strapping the watch to his wrist, but then obediently rolled up his sleeves and dragged the dead man through the door. He’d had practice.

This somehow clued the saloon that the dramatics were over, and the silence disappeared, replaced with the usual background noise of chatter and glasses clinking. Kageyama turned around in his chair, back to his whiskey and poker hand. So did the rest of his table, comprised of Asahi, Nishinoya, and Tsukishima. Usually, Kageyama wouldn’t play poker with Tsukishima, but they were just playing with chips this time, so he didn’t mind. Everyone knows you don’t play for money with Tsukishima. He always seemed to know what your hand was. One time they’d gotten him drunk and cajoled him into a game where he’d failed miserably, but that hardly counted. He’d barely been able to stand up from his chair, and when asked, Tsukishima had said he couldn’t recollect it. Which may have been a lie, but probably wasn’t.

They were playing five card stud, and Kageyama had been dealt two pairs, fours and jacks. He was pretty confident with that. Three chips slid from his pile into the middle.

Asahi looked at him for a moment, and slid three of his own chips into the middle as well. He called.

Nishinoya did the same, but Tsukishima raised him one. Kageyama called, and they flipped their hands.

Asahi had two threes. Nishinoya had an ace high. Tsukishima had - three eights. Dang it - that’s pretty impressive. Kageyama took a large drink of whiskey to hide his grimace.

With a smirk, Tsukishima pulled in the chips from the center, and handed his cards to Kageyama. His turn for the deal.

While the rest of the table waited, they too took swigs of their drink of choice, except for Asahi. Kageyama didn’t really know much about him, except he didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, and didn’t indulge with any of the girls in the saloon. Kageyama would think he was a square, if he hadn’t seen Asahi shoot more than his fair share of robbers and criminals as sheriff Sawamura’s deputy, and even more in a not so lawful manner. He could be intimidating at times, but mostly he was kind of a baby. You don’t see that so much around here.

Kageyama was in the process of shuffling when the saloon’s doors opened again, and he assumed it was just Tanaka returning from his business, so he didn’t even look over. But when he noticed everyone staring in that direction - even Tsukishima, who didn’t care about much - he glanced at the doors. That glance turned into a stare.

A newcomer.

They didn’t get too many newcomers around here, being that they were in the middle of nowhere. Even the farmers who made monthly trips into town were still familiar faces. The last unfamiliar face that stepped into the saloon...well, Kageyama had just witnessed his unfortunate end. So sue him if he didn’t have high hopes for this one either.

But Kageyama had been a newcomer himself once, so he couldn’t completely discredit him.

_Him_ being this short, orange haired man that had just walked in. His hair was so obnoxiously orange that it was all he stared at for a moment, until he noticed the gun on his hip and the hand just a little too close for comfort. Despite his short stature, he still looked rough. Like someone who could raise hell, if he wanted to.

Kageyama put his hand on his gun. Just in case.

There was a moment of silence where no one spoke, but then Yamaguchi, the bartender, decided to take charge of the situation.

“What’s your business here, stranger?”

There was another beat of silence before the man answered, but he eventually did.

“No business. Just need a place to be.”

Yamaguchi narrowed his eyes, still polishing a glass. Good to know Kageyama wasn’t the only one suspicious of him. “And what might your name be?”

“Hinata. Hinata Shouyou. And I don’t mean to cause no trouble here. Honest.”

“Good. We don’t take too kindly to those who cause trouble.” Yamaguchi shot a pointed glance to the still-fresh blood on the floor. He set the glass down. “But you’re welcome here as long as you stay out of it.”

Hinata seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. “Thanks.” He then walked over towards the bar, sat on one of the stools, and ordered a drink.

This time, the saloon didn’t forget about the disturbance so easily. At least a few pairs of eyes were on him constantly, Kageyama’s own included. They had all probably realized the same thing that Kageyama did, about him looking like a troublemaker. But they were still going to give him the chance to prove them wrong. They didn’t kick people out without a reason.

Also, people loved to hear new stories.

Sugawara, the town physician - he even had a real medical degree, they were luckier than most - slid up next to Hinata, and he started up a conversation. He was a good-natured guy, well suited to his profession, and they seemed to be getting along so far. They spoke too quietly for Kageyama to make out any distinct words, so he turned his attention back to the cards, and dealt out another round.

They played a few more times, but eventually Asahi decided it was time for him to head out. He liked to turn in early, unlike Nishinoya, who would stay up all night if someone offered. When Asahi stood up, Kageyama turned his attention once again to the newcomer, who now sat alone. Sugawara must have approved of him, if he had left. There wouldn’t be too much to worry about, then. Still. Maybe he should have a look for himself.

He finished off the rest of his drink, to give himself the excuse of getting another one, and made his way over to the bar. He caught Yamaguchi’s attention, holding up his glass, and received a quick nod of acknowledgement from him.

Hinata sat on a stool at the end of the bar, and Kageyama took the one to his right. Hinata seemed slightly surprised when he did so, given that there were lots of other empty seats, but he didn’t say anything about it. He looked forward purposefully and pushed his half-full glass back and forth, ignoring Kageyama’s presence, until Kageyama spoke.

“Suga tell you how that blood got there?” Maybe that was too aggressive, but Hinata didn’t take it that way.

He just chuckled and said, “I don’t cheat.”

“You stayin’ for a while?”

Hinata hesitated. “I suppose so.”

“What for?”

Kageyama didn’t get a response to that question, but he didn’t fault Hinata for it. He could keep his secrets. They sat in silence for another minute, and then Yamaguchi slid his new drink over to him. Kageyama stood.

“If you’re still lookin’ for a place to stay, there’s a hotel two doors down. You got money?”

“I don’t go around tellin’ people whether I got money or not.”

At least he wasn’t stupid. Kageyama wouldn’t tell a stranger either. Hinata looked away again, so Kageyama took that as his cue to leave. He didn’t really find out much, but at least Hinata’s better than the last guy. Maybe he’d be alright then.

Kageyama walked back to his table and played a few more rounds with Nishinoya and Tsukishima. He managed to do pretty well for himself, considering who he was playing with, and he got caught up in the game for a while.

When he remembered to look back up, Hinata was gone.

::

The next day was a Tuesday, but it didn’t matter much. Every day except Sunday, Kageyama got up at eight and made his way to the general store for work. He didn’t own it, but the real owner was out of town a lot on his farm, so Kageyama basically ran the place. It was nice. It paid enough where he didn’t have to worry about food or rent, and he could even afford a few drinks now and then.

When he’d waltzed into town a few years ago, he’d never had anything like that before.

Kageyama unlocked the front door with his key, and stepped inside. The store was fairly small, but everything was cramped together so tightly that it worked. The clearest area was the front counter, where the cash was kept - although not much, he made a trip to the bank every couple of days. Robberies weren’t common, but they happened often enough for it to be worth it.

The first thing Kageyama noticed was that they were running low on a few items. The nearest railroad depot was ten miles south, so restocks were a pretty big affair. Every few weeks the owner hired someone to make the trip, which usually took a couple of days. Kageyama was just glad it wasn’t his job to do that - it would get tiring pretty fast.

He flipped the sign on the window to open, and so his day began.

It was a normal day, as far as days went. Customers came and went, most of them farmers making their weekly trip to town for supplies. He’d seen them all before.

At around three in the afternoon, though, a familiar orange-haired man pushed open the door. It made sense. He probably didn’t have much on his person when he got here, and now he had to stock up. It still made Kageyama wary, even if Hinata had seemed alright last night.

Hinata didn’t seem to notice him at first, too busy browsing their stock, which was, like he’d realized that morning, pretty low.

“Got any bacon?” Hinata asked, still looking away.

“Sorry. Fresh out.”

Hinata turned at the sound of his voice, noticing him for the first time. His eyes widened imperceptibly in recognition, but he didn’t dwell on it. Everybody worked somewhere.

It took him a few minutes, but eventually Hinata made his way over to the counter with a pretty large selection of stuff.

“By the looks of it, you do have money.” Kageyama wasn’t sure why he was trying to continue the conversation from last night, but it was the only thing he could think of to say.

Hinata eyed him warily. “What, you itchin’ to steal it or something?”

Kageyama smirked. “Nah. I don’t steal from kids.”

Hinata’s eye twitched at the obvious jab at his height. “I ain’t a kid.” It was probably a bad idea to rile him up like this.

“Alright, alright. Total’s $4.28.”

Hinata didn’t say anything, but didn’t make to pay either. He looked like he was considering something.

“Spit it out.”

“What?”

“Whatever you’re thinkin’ about.”

“I bet my horse races faster than yours.”

Newcomer’s first day and he was challenging him to a horse race? And here he thought this one had some self-preservation instinct.

The look Hinata was giving him was pure confrontation, as if daring him to back out. So obviously he was going to have to accept. Kageyama’s feeling of suspicion about the man had disappeared, and he trusted his gut, so he wasn’t too worried about this leading somewhere bad. He’d been hankering for a good ride lately, anyways.

“East side of town, half past seven. Hope you’re not a sore loser.”

::

Just after half past, Kageyama pulled himself up onto his horse, Duke. Duke was a dark brown stallion, and had been the horse he’d rode into town on for the first time. Even though he was getting older, he’d never lost the gallop that Kageyama had fallen in love with so long ago.

He didn’t expect to lose this competition.

Being that it was late summer, the sun was still fairly high in the sky at this time of day. They had a few hours until they lost most of the light.

When Kageyama arrived at the agreed upon spot, Hinata was already waiting.

“I thought you’d chickened out!” Hinata shouted to make up for the distance.

Slowing Duke to a stop, Kageyama shook his head. “What, and lose out on the chance to run circles ‘round you?”

Hinata just scowled at him. “Enough of your braggin’, how are we doing this?”

“There’s a creek half a mile north of here. You’ll see it when you get close enough. Or you can just follow behind me.”

If they hadn’t been on horses, Hinata might well have strangled him. Kageyama probably deserved it. 

Kagayama gave a countdown, and off they went, speeding up quickly once the horses realized what was happening. One of Duke’s strengths was his acceleration, and this was demonstrated by how quickly he got ahead of Hinata.

When Duke reached his full speed, Kageyama was almost standing up in his stirrups, and holding on as tight as he could to counteract the wind on his face. The tree in the distance grew larger, and the space between him and Hinata did as well. He hadn’t been uncertain that he would win, but now there was no way he would lose. And as he sped past the tree moments before Hinata, he was proven right.

Kageyama slowed Duke back to a trot, and hopped off, tying Duke’s reins to a tree branch.

“How’s that for a race?” Kageyama taunted, childishly, he would admit.

“Ain’t my fault you know the terrain and I don’t! If it’d been home turf for me I would’ve beat you, and you know it.” Hinata stepped down from his horse as well.

“Too bad it isn’t, then.”

Hinata tied his reins to a different tree, and started stalking towards him.

Kageyama snickered a little bit. Hinata was obviously trying to look threatening, but it wasn’t working. At all. It honestly made Kageyama question what had made him seem so rough the night before.

He thought Hinata was just coming closer to yell at him to his face, so he was taken off guard when Hinata shoved him - into the creek.

It wasn’t fast moving water, but it was wet just the same. He’d fallen backwards onto his butt, and the water only came up to his shoulders, so his head was dry, but you couldn’t say the same for anything else.

It was _freezing_ , too.

“You _bastard_ \- “

“Sorry! Oh shit, I’m so sorry, I said I wouldn’t cause trouble but you made me so darn _mad_....”

Kageyama stood out of the water as quick as he could, and stepped back onto dry land. When he looked at Hinata, he seemed distraught - unsurprisingly, because he didn’t want to get thrown out of town. But what _was_ surprising was that Kageyama didn’t want him gone. Even after what just happened.

Hinata was still rambling nonsensical apologies, so to get him to stop, Kageyama put an - admittedly damp - hand on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Hinata stared at him with his mouth open.

“You’ll catch flies.”

“You mean it?” He glanced at the hand on his shoulder.

“Yeah, they fly right in.” Kageyama shoved both his hands back into his pockets. “If anyone asks I’ll tell ‘em I tripped or somethin’.”

After scuffing his boot against the ground a couple times, Hinata said, looking away from him, “Thanks.”

He seemed more solemn now, like yesterday. Kageyama wasn’t sure if he liked it or not.

“Anyways, I think you owe me a drink or two in apology. Let’s head back.”

With a nod, Hinata went to untie his horse, and Kageyama did the same. 

The pace they rode back to town was much slower, and this time Kageyama rode slightly behind Hinata, if only to keep an eye on him. Duke was tired, anyways.

They slowed at the edge of town, and Kageyama asked, “Where are you keepin’ her?”

“I put her up in the livery. They’re not too expensive here.”

“Right. I gotta dry off and settle Duke back down, but I’ll head down to the saloon in a bit. You can buy my silence there if you want.”

Hinata gave him a smile and a small wave. “Alrighty then.”

::

When Kageyama arrived at the saloon, Hinata was leaned up against the wall. He’d been waiting for him.

“Why didn’t you go inside?”

Hinata shot a quick look at the door before responding. “I don’t think they took too well to me yesterday.”

With a scoff, Kageyama said, “Don’t be dumb. Come on.”

He walked past Hinata and pushed through the doors, knowing that Hinata would follow.

They sat down at a table near the corner, wanting to stay out of the way of the rest of the patronage, who were unusually loud that night, even for them. Small talk was not Kageyama’s strong suit, but Hinata was fairly good at it, so their conversation was smooth until they were interrupted by a shout from across the room. A quick glance told Kageyama it came from Nishinoya, was currently very drunk and very angry at someone. 

“What’d ya just say to me?” Nishinoya stood, slowly, and approached the apparent target of his anger. It was one of the farmers who came into town fairly frequently, a couple times a week, to drink and gamble. 

Kageyama had no idea what he’d said to incur Nishinoya’s wrath, but it’s possible it hadn’t been that bad. Nishinoya liked to fight even when he was sober.

A crack rang through the saloon when Nishinoya’s fist met the farmer’s face. The farmer then managed to get a good punch to Nishinoya’s stomach before Asahi stepped in to pull them apart.

“Get outta here, hear me? Or next time I’ll drag you to the slammer.”

The farmer seemed sufficiently intimidated, and nearly tripped over his tail on the way out.

“You know I wish you wouldn’t start things like that,” Asahi chided.

Nishinoya was prodding his stomach where he got hit with a frown on his face. He replied, “Not my fault, he was an asshole, sayin’ stuff like that about y- “

“ _Like_ I said, just keep outta trouble, okay?” Asahi gently pushed Nishinoya back down into a chair, and sat next to him. “In the eyes of the law you’re the one who should be gettin’ locked up here.”

Nishinoya grumbled a few more unintelligible words, but stayed seated and leaned up against Asahi’s side. Asahi slid over a glass of water, and it was drunk without complaint.

“Why’s he still here if he stirs up so much trouble?” Hinata asked.

“A while back he helped out a few of us when there was a big robbery downtown. And he never starts anythin’ with anyone who doesn’t deserve it. He gets pretty protective, especially of the other townsfolk, and they appreciate it.”

“Oh. So yesterday…”

Hinata seemed to be pretty put off about yesterday, but Kageyama knew from experience that it didn’t mean much without cause. “Well, it’s true ‘round here that we’re pretty suspicious of new folks, but they don’t hate people without good reason. So don’t give ‘em one and you’ll get along just fine.”

There was a comfortable pause before Hinata spoke again.

“Are Nishinoya and Asahi partners?”

“What? No, Asahi’s the deputy. He’s Sawamura’s partner.”

“No, I don’t mean it like that. I mean...partner in life. Y’know.”

“Oh. I don’t know ‘bout that.” Kageyama had never really paid them much attention. “But I wouldn’t judge if they were. Most guys ‘round here would sell their soul for some real company.” 

Hinata seemed to find his empty glass extremely interesting. Finishing what remained in his glass, Kageyama slid it over to him.

“Another round?”

Pushing up from his chair, Hinata nodded, grabbed the glasses, and made his way over to the bar.

Kageyama watched him for a moment, but when someone else sat down next to him, his attention switched to them. It was Sugawara. They didn’t normally talk that much, so he must have something specific to say.

“Saw you two out ridin’ today. Didn’t know you’d gotten acquainted.”

“Is that what you’re here to say?”

“No. Just - he gives me a bad feelin’. I don’t think you should be gettin’ too friendly with him.”

Why not? If there was really a reason, Sugawara would’ve told him what it was. So it was just his instinct, which was odd. He was usually the first person to give someone a chance. But Kageyama had spent more time with Hinata than anyone else so far, and he trusted his own gut feeling more than anyone else’s. And it told him that Hinata was just fine.

“Sorry, but I already got a ma. Besides, we were just ridin’. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.”

Sugawara shook his head. “Well, I warned ya. That’s all I can do.”

Kageyama didn’t reply. When Hinata returned with their drinks, Sugawara left with a nod of his head.

“What was that about?” Hinata asked.

“Nothin’ much.”

“Me, then.”

It wasn’t really worth lying about. “He just likes motherin’, that’s all. You shouldn’t mind it.”

Hinata looked away. There was a strange look on his face.

They sat in an awkward silence for a while, neither knowing what to say. Kageyama broke it by telling Hinata the names of the people around the room, once he remembered he’d never had a proper introduction.

“The bartender over there’s Yamaguchi,” he said, gesturing towards him.

“He’s sorta intimidating.”

Kageyama laughed. “First I’ve heard of it. He warms up eventually.”

“Right.”

“And if you’ve been to the restaurant across the street yet, that’s owned by his wife.”

“The pregnant one?”

“Yeah, her. Over there’s Tanaka, he works with the horses at the livery, so you might’ve seen him around already.”

Hinata nodded.

“And next to him’s Kiyoko, she’s one of the girls here. She’s always drinkin’ and never seems to get drunk.”

“You sure she actually drinks while she’s workin’?” 

“Well, yeah, I mean look at her.” Kageyama pointed to the glass full of brown liquid she held while talking to a man.

“Back home they always had the bartender pour them tea instead of liquor. So it looked like they were drinkin’ with the guys, but they weren’t. Safer for ‘em.”

Kageyama had never thought of that. Or asked. But something else in Hinata’s sentence caught his attention.

“Where’s back home for you?”

He didn’t really expect Hinata to answer him, since he’d been so secretive the night before, but surprisingly, Hinata answered his question.

“Out east. In the plains.” Hinata was staring intently at the table, like for some reason this was something that shouldn’t be said to Kageyama’s face. 

But Kageyama was looking at Hinata’s face. It definitely wasn’t for the first time, so he couldn’t call it that, but it certainly felt like it. The dim light in the saloon from the candles cast shadows on him, making him look older than in the day. It highlighted shallow scars that had been hidden earlier, pale and thin, but there just the same. Kageyama wondered where they came from. His orange hair fell down onto his face, and Kageyama wouldn’t be able to stand that, but Hinata never seemed to mind.

“What about you?”

Ah. Apparently Kageyama had gotten distracted, because the words made him flinch a little, but Hinata didn’t seem to notice.

“Down south. I grew up there, I mean. My pa was a cowboy, a real one, and for a few months a year he would drive the cattle up north to the railway depots.”

“So why’d you come up here?”

Kageyama didn’t know why he hesitated. He’d told this story before. “He got hurt. Bad. He couldn’t ride anymore. And he got...angry. At least, that’s what my ma told me. I was small when it happened.

“And when I was older, she passed. Yellow fever. And he got worse - so much worse. So I packed my bags and headed north. Didn’t know where I was goin’, just that I needed to go. And I ended up here, after a few other towns that didn’t sit right with me. Been here ever since.”

Now Hinata wasn’t just looking at him, he was staring. It was so intense that Kageyama had to look away. He kept talking just to fill the silence.

“It ain’t so bad here though. He probably thinks I’m dead by now anyways, so I’m doin’ alright for myself, I reckon. He’s also no doubt mad I stole his horse - Duke. You know he kept him, even when he couldn’t ride him? He always thought one day he’d be able to again. Maybe he was a little crazy in the head too.”

Kageyama needed to stop himself from rambling, so he took a long drink. He looked up when Hinata spoke.

“Sometimes you get crazy when you lose somethin’ you care about.” It was quiet, solemn. He was speaking from experience.

“Who was it?”

“My sister. I lost it a bit, after. Did some things I shouldn’t have.”

That wasn’t something you pried about, so Kageyama didn’t.

“But I’m here now, and unless y’all kick me out, I’m plannin’ on stayin’.” Hinata smiled after this, and sat back in his chair, moving on from the depressing tone of moments before.

_I’m glad_ , Kageyama thought, but he didn’t say it. It seemed like too much.

“Just don’t push anyone else into the creek,” he said instead. “Doesn’t really give off the best impression.”

Although it was hard to tell with the dim lighting, Kageyama noticed Hinata redden slightly. Was he embarrassed?

“I’m not apologizin’ again, if that’s what you’re fishin’ for.” Responding to the tease with righteous indignation seemed a very Hinata thing to do.

Kageyama held his hands up in surrender. “Just some friendly advice from a friendly stranger.”

Hinata hesitated before saying, “I don’t really feel we’re strangers anymore.”

“...Yeah. Suppose we ain’t.”

::

It became a nightly routine for them. When Kageyama was done working, he met up with Hinata somewhere, whether it was the saloon, the restaurant, or the bench on main street. They got on well, considering they’d only just met. Kageyama talked about what it was like down south, told town stories that usually made Hinata laugh, and whatever ridiculous gossip he heard while he was working. Hinata gave back by telling him about the plains of the east, the big towns he’d been to, and ridiculous situations he’d somehow gotten himself into. There was a big part of his life he never talked about, the part that had led him here, but Kageyama didn’t ask. Hinata would tell him when he wanted to, and it wasn’t as important as keeping his company.

But they didn’t go anywhere private again, by Kageyama’s design. Not because he didn’t trust Hinata, but because he didn’t trust himself not to do something stupid. And he refused to say it out loud, but it was there. In the back of his brain, the part where he kept his dumb ideas, resided a new one that had arrived that night in the bar after they’d raced. The idea was related to Hinata, more specifically Hinata’s face, and even more specifically a certain part of Hinata’s face.

Kageyama didn’t usually beat around the bush like this, but he was still coming to terms with his attraction to Hinata. He’d never felt this way for anyone before. He kept asking himself what about Hinata was so special, and the eventual answer he came to was that it was nothing in particular. Just that he was Hinata. 

He wasn’t usually so sappy either. Whether it was a good or bad thing was yet to be determined.

But the reason he had categorized kissing Hinata as a dumb idea was that Hinata had never showed any indication that he felt the same way. Hinata just thought of them as friends, and Kageyama could do friends if that was all he could have. He didn’t want to do anything that would jeapordize their friendship, and his big dumb idea had the power to do just that. And really, Kageyama was fine with nothing more. This was good enough.

One night a few weeks after their race, they decided to go to the restaurant. They’d been there before, and it was one of their main spots. It was cozy in the way most of the buildings here were, with slightly run-down walls and tables scattered throughout the floor. Yamaguchi’s wife owned the place, and she worked there most of the time too, so she was the one to bring them their food.

“Is that all for you boys?” Yachi asked, with her hand on her very pregnant stomach. The baby was pretty much all Yamaguchi talked about at this point, so Kageyama knew it was due any day now. They didn’t get too many babies out here, so the rest of the town was getting excited as well.

“It is, thanks.” When she was gone, they dug into their food - they were starving. Not literally, but something that Kageyama had noticed about Hinata recently was that he always ate like he was, actually, starving. He wondered if that was just how Hinata was, or if it was because he’d grown up hungry, like other people Kageyama knew who ate similarly. 

He had the strange urge to order Hinata more food.

Since the night at the bar, their conversations had stayed lighter. No more tragic pasts or things like that. So when Hinata started up a story about a town he’d visited where everyone was taller than him, it was a typical topic choice.

“Everyone! And I mean _everyone_ , even the kids! Well, not the real little ones, but you know what I’m sayin’. And I thought, maybe I shoulda been born there, then I’d be more intimidatin’.” Hinata flexed an arm, either to prove that he was intimidating or that he wasn’t. It was unclear. All it did to Kageyama was make him look away so his neck would stop flushing.

“Are you listenin’ to me?”

“Oh - yeah. You wish you were tall, like me.”

He received a glare. “That’s not what I said and you know it, you’re not even that tall! You’re average, maybe. Maybe not even that.”

“Well I’m closer to tall than you’ll ever be.”

Hinata’s face scrunched up, and he stood. “If you’re so tall, why don’t you race me?”

“What, on the horses again?”

“No, on foot.”

“I ain’t doin’ that.”

“You’re backin’ out?” Hinata squinted at him.

“I was never in, I can’t back out.”

“So you admit I win.”

“I will never, in my life, admit that.”

“Then what’s the issue? We race, I win, problem solved.”

Kageyama scowled. He wasn’t getting out of this.

“Fine.”

Smiling menacingly, Hinata said, “Alright! Let’s go!”

Hinata had obviously thought about this before, because he took them right outside and said, “Okay, from here to that tree. About a tenth of a mile.”

Kageyama readied himself.

“Three, two, one...go!”

They took off, sprinting as fast as they could. Kageyama held the lead at first, but around the halfway mark Hinata overtook him. He tried to regain first place, but his legs were at their limit. Despite his best efforts, Hinata touched the tree before him.

Bent over at the knees, breathing heavily, Hinata tried to shout, “I won!”, but it came out too breathy to hold much weight.

Kageyama could hardly get enough air to say anything. “You just...won because...you started before you said go.”

Hinata straightened up immediately. “Did not! You’re just mad you lost. I warned you, y’know.”

Kageyama stormed towards him. “If it was fair, I would’ve won. That’s the only way to explain it!” He knew he was overreacting, but his exhaustion and lack of air was preventing higher-level thought.

“So I’m not good enough to win? You think you’re better than me!”

Now almost nose-to-nose with Hinata, Kageyama opened his mouth to speak, but Hinata continued before he could.

“Well you ain’t! You’re just as trash as everyone else, and don’t you forget it!” Hinata shouted, shoving Kageyama away with both hands. The anger was rolling off of Hinata in waves. Real anger, the burning hot kind that Kageyama tried to stay away from. It snapped him out of his own frustration, and made him realize he had to cool down the situation.

“Shouyou, wait! I don’t think I’m better than you. Well, sometimes I do, but that’s normal. You’re allowed to think you’re better than me sometimes too, when I do something stupid. I just want you to know, overall, it’s not like that. We keep pace with each other.”

Hinata was silent for a moment, until he said, “Yeah. I guess we do.” He seemed placated.

After being shoved away, Kageyama was wary of stepping closer, so he did it slowly.

“You don’t need to worry about what I think of you, y’know. I mean, sometimes you’re annoyin’ as shit, but that doesn’t matter. Much. Well, what I’m meanin’ to say is that I think you’re good...at the important stuff, I guess.” Kageyama had retreated into talking nonsense, and he forced himself to stop. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

“You mean that?”

Their eyes met.

“Yeah. I do.”

The eye contact lasted too long to be normal, and Kageyama found himself drawing in closer to Hinata, looking at his lips, and -

“We should go! Back, I mean. It’s, um...it’s late.”

Surprised at Kageyama's outburst, Hinata leaned back. The moment was over.

“Alright.”

They walked back in silence, tension in the air. When they reached Kageyama’s place, Hinata split from him, heading back to the hotel. No more words were exchanged.

It wasn’t until Kageyama was on the cusp of sleep later that night that he realized he’d used Hinata’s first name.

::

A few nights later, Kageyama and Hinata found themselves being dragged into a card game at the saloon.

“Okay, fine, but Tsukishima’s not allowed to play,” Kageyama argued.

Hinata looked confused. “Why not? Does he cheat or somethin’?”

Tsukishima scowled. “I _do not_ cheat. I’ve just won so much money from this idiot that he refuses to play for keeps anymore.”

“Oh.” Hinata had that look on his face he got when he was about to challenge Kageyama to a race. “I’ll play you.”

“I’m not sure that’s-” Kageyama started, but Hinata cut him off.

“I ain’t scared.” He turned to squint at Tsukishima. “Are you?”

“Only that the chairs are too short for you to reach the cards.”

“You’ll regret that when I beat you! Anyone else in?”

Everyone looked around at each other. No one spoke up.

“Okay, so it’s a one-on-one. Even better for when I grind you into the dirt!”

Tsukishima started the deal, dealing out seven cards to each of them.

The game started out as expected, Tsukishima taking a good amount of Hinata’s coins, but slowly - very slowly - the tide started to turn in Hinata’s favor.

And to everyone’s surprise, Hinata won the game.

“Oh my god.” Kageyama was in awe. So was everyone else, it seemed.

“Whooooo!!” That was Nishinoya, who was still very drunk, and currently slapping Hinata on the back. “You’re somethin’ else, man!”

Tsukishima seemed to be more annoyed than usual. “I’m headin’ out,” he said, standing. Within a few seconds, he was gone. 

Kageyama grinned. “He seemed bothered.”

“I did warn him, so it ain’t my fault.”

Although everyone was excited about Hinata’s win, after a while they calmed down and resumed what they had been doing before. Soon it was just Hinata and Kageyama at the table again, talking about what they normally did. But a lull in the conversation had Hinata getting that challenging look on his face again. Kageyama mentally prepared himself to be challenged to another race.

“Wanna take a walk?” Hinata asked.

Oh. That’s not what he’d expected. Was that even a challenge? And even without that confusion, Kageyama hesitated to accept. Although normally a walk would be fine, a walk with Hinata meant breaking his rule about private spaces. Again.

But Hinata took his silence as aversion, so he followed it up with, “Or not. We can stay here too.”

It was weirdly considerate of him. It also made Kageyama want to go on the walk.

“Okay.” The rule was dumb anyways. He could stop himself from doing anything he would regret.

Hinata grinned, obviously excited. “Come on, I know where we should go.” He held his hand out to Kageyama. It was just to help him up, and meant nothing else at all, but that didn’t stop Kageyama from noticing just how warm Hinata’s hand was, and how rough the skin felt. 

When Hinata started walking, he looked at Kageyama, wordlessly telling him to follow. He did.

They moved in silence for a few minutes, until Kageyama asked where they were going.

“I’d keep it a surprise, but you know this place better than I do so that’d be hard. We’re headin’ to the little lake up there.”

The lake the creek flowed into. Interesting choice. It wasn’t the most picturesque of places, but it was dark out, so Kageyama supposed it didn’t matter much. He was more concerned about not tripping over anything while he was staring at Hinata.

“Watch where you’re goin’!”

Kageyama stopped short and looked down. He’d almost walked into the lake.

“At least if you fell in this time it wouldn’t be my fault,” Hinata laughed. He had a pretty laugh.

Kageyama looked at Hinata. Or more accurately, stared at Hinata. He was just an outline at this point, but that didn’t make him any less interesting. And he thought, though it was hard to tell, that Hinata was staring at him back.

“Do you like it out here?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah,” Kageyama answered.

Hinata stepped closer to him, closer than he’d ever stood before. Still staring into Kageyama’s eyes, searching for something, he spoke. Quietly, as if the air was fragile enough to break.

“Tell me to stop if I’m assumin’ too much.”

And Hinata kissed him.

Kageyama made a muted noise in surprise, but he got over that quickly because Hinata was _kissing_ him, and he was kissing back desperately, because he wanted it too badly to reject it, thoughts of consequences be damned. The ocean had parted.

Kageyama threaded his hand through the back of Hinata’s hair. It was so soft. He didn’t pull, just let it languish there, and settled his other hand on the small of Hinata’s back, deepening the kiss. 

The feeling of contentment washed over him, like this was the moment his entire life had built up to, like this was where he was always supposed to end up. Right here by this lake, with his head tilted down and Hinata’s arms around him. They continued the kiss for an unknowable length of time, the seconds blending together into a mess of Hinata and sensation.

And then the waves crashed together again. They broke apart almost reluctantly, motivated by both the lack of air and the mutual sense that it was time. Hinata’s hair, mussed from Kageyama’s touch, was proof that he hadn’t imagined anything.

Kageyama didn’t even want to think about parting ways after this, of going home alone and trying to sleep. He didn’t think he’d be able to.

“Do you wanna come back to my room?”

Hinata grinned. “I was waitin’ for you to ask.”

::

“It’s not so bad in here.”

“Uh, thanks.”

Hinata made himself right at home by plopping down on the bed and staring at the ceiling. He held his palm up in front of him like he was trying to touch it. He was only short about five feet or so.

“My pops used to tell me stories of when he was growin’ up out east. They had a sod house, and he had to sleep on his stomach in case it rained in the night, ‘cause the dirt would fall down from the ceiling.”

“Well, no dirt ceilings here. You can even sleep on your back if you want. Very modern.”

Hinata made a face at him. “ _I’m_ telling you a story, and _you’re_ bein’ annoying. Rude.” His grin afterwards betrayed any sense of seriousness in the statement.

“Besides,” Hinata continued, propping himself up one elbow, “I didn’t know we were gonna be doin’ much sleepin’.” His smile turned more playful, and he glanced at Kageyama from the bed.

And Kageyama wished for that to have the intended effect on him, but it just made him nervous. He wanted to do this - so bad - but he also wanted to do this right, for Hinata, and he didn’t know if he’d be any good at it. The kissing was fun, and easy, but this felt huge. Like something he didn’t want to fuck up.

Hinata noticed his hesitation. “You alright? I was just messin’ around - we don’t have to do anything if you don’t wanna.”

“No, it’s not that.” It definitely wasn’t. “I just don’t…um. I haven’t...” Kageyama rubbed the back of his neck. Hinata was being super nice again, and it made Kageyama feel awkward.

“Oh, that’s okay. I can show you. If you want.” Hinata’s expression was open, and honest. There was no judgement in it, and suddenly Hinata’s niceness in this situation didn’t make him feel awkward anymore. It felt...safe. Hinata trusted him enough to be here, to kiss him, to offer something like that. And he was being nice because he thought the situation deserved it. That _Kageyama_ deserved it. If Hinata really thought that, then maybe he wasn’t quite so worried about messing up anymore.

The decision became easy.

“Show me.”

::

Kageyama woke up to the unusual situation of having someone else in his bed, and decided immediately that he liked this much more than his usual situation. Hinata’s breaths were shallow but warm on his chest, and the arm flung over his stomach was a welcome pressure. He thanked the heavens that it was a Sunday, his rare day off, because that meant he had no looming responsibilities that morning and could enjoy this for as long as possible.

Which he did. He laid there, mesmerized by the rise and fall of Hinata’s chest, until Hinata’s eyes opened blearily. He shut them again immediately.

“Time is it?” Hinata mumbled, still trying to grasp the last tendrils of sleep.

“‘Round seven or so, I’d say.”

Hinata groaned. “Too early.”

Kageyama snickered. At least he wasn’t this grouchy in the morning.

Hinata opened one eye. “What’re you laughin’ about?”

“I didn’t take you for such a snoozer.”

“I ain’t a snoozer, you’re just a grandpa. Only old people get up this early.”

“Yeah, and people with jobs,” Kageyama joked.

“I’ve been lookin’!” Hinata protested, sitting up. “And you’re not just any grandpa, you’re a _rude_ grandpa. I’ve been tricked.” He flopped back down onto his back.

“Was this grandpa really so rude to you last nigh-,” he started, but Hinata pushed him sideways off the bed. He landed softly, but still. Rude.

Picking himself up off the floor, he stretched. It was a good morning stretch, the kind that woke you up. He thought maybe Hinata would benefit from that. He realized, though, as he was stretching, that he didn’t know what to do now. What’s the protocol for this sort of thing?

“Do you...want some tea or somethin’?” Kageyama mentally face-palmed.

Squinting at him, Hinata said, “Are you gonna put somethin’ weird in it?” He seemed suspicious.

“What? No, I’m just askin’ if you want some tea.” Kageyama was almost offended that Hinata thought he would do that.

“You’re bein’ too normal. It’s weird.”

“That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Fine, fine. I’ll take some tea.”

Kageyama turned on his woodstove, and boiled some water. He then brewed the tea, and handed a cup of it to Hinata, who took it gratefully.

After a sip, Hinata sighed happily. “This is pretty good. I’m terrible at makin’ this stuff, mine’s always bitter as hell.”

Kageyama snorted. “Lucky you have me then.”

Hinata made a face, and put on an overly dramatic voice. “Yes, _what_ would I do without you?”

“Die, most likely.” This was apparently not the answer Hinata wanted to hear.

“Rude!”

::

They weathered a winter together. It was the easiest winter Kageyama had been through in years, and the happiest too. They fit together in a way he’d never known before, and it was nice having someone who completed him like that.

Hinata got a job at the hotel that he liked, and he got free board with it. He had been very excited to tell Kageyama the news that he didn’t have to pay for a room anymore, and Kageyama was proud of him. The joy had been infectious.

Yachi had her baby, and Yamaguchi almost drove the whole town insane with his constant talk of it. Nobody truly minded though, and everyone - even those who wouldn’t admit it - loved having it around. 

Nishinoya got in more fights, of course, but the town would feel empty without it. 

It really felt like everything was right in the world.

Of course, things couldn’t be quiet for too long.

“Hey! Get back here!” Saeko ran out of the bank, shouting at a masked bandit. She spent a lot of time in the big city, and had just recently returned to the bank she owned here to look after it for the spring. But it seemed her looking after hadn’t worked so well.

Her skirt hitched up, she ran a little further, but gave up quickly. There was no way she’d be able to catch a man on horseback if she was on foot.

“He took gold! A lot of it!” She hollered. “A hundred dollars to anyone who brings it back!”

A hundred dollars? That was a large sum of money.

He looked at Hinata. Hinata looked at him.

“Get your horse,” they said simultaneously.

It didn’t take them long to gather everything they needed, since it wasn’t much. They just needed to be quick enough to follow the thief.

So soon enough, they were riding side by side, their horses beneath them. They could spot the thief in the distance, his horse most likely weighed down by the gold and not going as fast as it usually could. By the direction they were going, Kageyama guessed that they were headed to the depot town, where the train stopped. It was the most convenient place to make a getaway, at least.

After a few miles, their horses all slowed down, but the distance between them was decreasing. They were going to catch up soon, but they didn’t want to be within shooting range, so they stayed back a little ways.

When they reached the town, it was growing darker, and their horses were exhausted. They tied them to some trees on the outskirts of town, and looked for the thief. They had been wearing handkerchiefs on their faces during the ride, so they wouldn't be recognized. Now, taking them off, they would blend in with the crowd.

They found the thief at the train stop with the bag of gold, and after a little arguing, came up with a plan to get it back.

Hinata strolled up to the thief confidently, and said, “That’s stolen gold, mister.” Kageyama stayed out of sight, hidden in the large crowd that was gathered.

The thief sneered. “And what are you gonna do about it?” He raised his gun at Hinata, finger on the trigger.

Kageyama pulled his own before the thief got the chance. He slumped to the ground, dropping the bag of gold. Hinata picked it up.

“Thanks for not lettin’ him shoot me,” Hinata deadpanned.

“Well, I gotta keep you around. Who else would be crazy enough to be bait?” This earned him a punch to the arm.

But they both startled when a gunshot sped past them, hitting the ground by their feet. Someone was shooting at them. Did the thief have an accomplice?

“Move!” Kageyama yelled, pushing Hinata forward. They needed to lose whoever was after them. It wouldn’t be hard in a big town like this, but they needed to run, now.

They kept themselves as low as they could, while a few more shots rang out. He couldn’t tell how close they were to being hit, but it was close enough. They turned a corner down an alleyway, and opened the first door they saw. It was a barber shop, and the barber looked up at them warily when they busted in. Kageyama supposed they looked ragged enough to deserve that. 

“If you ain’t here for a haircut, you need to get -”

Kageyama flipped him a dollar coin from his pocket. “We need to hide out for a bit. You got a back room?”

The barber seemed to be persuaded by the bribe. “Aye, but you can’t stay for too long. And if it’s the law that’s after you, you’d better look somewhere else.”

Kageyama nodded, and the barber led them to a secluded back room that appeared to be for storage. “It locks from the inside. If y’all ain’t gone in a couple hours, I’ll have the sheriff come over and knock down the door.”

“Understood.”

The barber vacated the room, and Kageyama turned the lock. When he looked back at Hinata, he was sliding down the wall to a sitting position.

“You alright?”

“Yeah,” Hinata answered. “I’m fine.”

Breathing out a sigh of relief, Kageyama sat himself down next to Hinata. “I should’ve been more careful about him. There’s always a chance of an accomplice, and I didn’t even think about it. Or if it wasn’t an accomplice, it was the law, and if they come lookin’ for us that barber’ll rat us out -”

“It wasn’t a lawman.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I knew him.”

Hinata had recognized the shooter? Kageyama hadn’t even been able to catch a glance of him. And why was Hinata being so vague about this? He should’ve told Kageyama as soon as they’d got here.

“Who was he then?” Kageyama asked, impatiently.

Hinata didn’t answer him right away, which made Kageyama more irritated.

“Hinata, I need to know who was tryin’ to kill you!”

“I used to work for him,” Hinata answered, finally.

Kageyama squinted at him. “Like...at a job?”

“Not really.”

“Then what do you _mean_?”

Hinata stared at the opposite wall, and when he spoke again it was soft. “We didn’t have much money growin’ up. It was hard, but we managed, until my sister got sick with malaria. We couldn’t even afford a doctor, much less the drug for treatin’ it. I told you before, after she passed I went out of my mind for a bit. I promised myself I’d make somethin’ more of my life. I didn’t want to be helpless anymore.” Hinata took a deep breath, steadying himself. “So I got involved with this gang, Johzenji. They had money, power - everything I wanted. And they were alright, for a while. They stuck to well-off folks and criminals, people who wouldn’t miss a little money or didn’t deserve it. But then the boss got shot during a heist. The rest of us got out okay, but the guy who took control, Terushima, changed things. We started robbin’ poor folks, murderin’ innocents. I couldn’t deal with it anymore, and he noticed. He told me to prove my loyalty by killin’ some random kid he’d grabbed, but I couldn’t. I just kept thinkin’ of my sister. She’d hate me for what I’d done. I took off, grabbed the next train west, and just kept running until I stumbled on your town.”

When Hinata finally made eye contact with him again, Kageyama asked, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“I didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. I came to your town to start over, and I thought I had - I was so _stupid_ to think I could just run away from it. But I was so happy there. I suppose I was just trying to hang onto the illusion for as long as I could.”

“But _why_...”

Hinata’s expression contorted. “Listen, I should’ve told you, alright? But there was somethin’ so liberatin’ about not being that person anymore. I got too caught up in the chance for a clean slate.” Hinata’s eyes darted away, and he continued, “And, I suppose, I wanted you to think I was a better man than that.”

“You _are_ a good man,” Kageyama asserted, placing his hand on Hinata’s shoulder. “You left it, didn’t you? That’s what an honest man does. He does what he thinks is right. That doesn’t mean he always makes the right decisions, just that he does his best. And that’s what you did.”

Hinata sighed. “I just wish there was something I could do to redeem myself.” 

“You don’t have to.”

Hinata huffed, but then gave Kageyama a tiny smile. “Thank you.” He covered Kageyama’s hand with his own.

“Next time you get someone out to kill you, though, I’d prefer a little warning.”

“Alright, deal,” Hinata agreed good-naturedly. “Although I’m fairly certain he wasn’t actually aimin’ to kill me. He’s a better shot than that.”

“That doesn’t make me feel much better,” Kageyama deadpanned. “But we’ll hide out here for an hour or two. Hopefully he’ll be gone by then. And then we can take this” - Kageyama held up the bag of gold he was still carrying - “back to the bank, and get our reward.”

“Since I was the bait - which everyone knows is much more dangerous - I feel like we should split it 60-40.”

“I’m the one who actually shot him!”

::

Their departure from the depot was much less dramatic than their arrival. They quietly made their way out of the storage room, said their thanks to the barber, and found their horses easily. The ride back was slow, and it was growing dark, but they didn’t want to spend any more time in that place than they needed to. 

On their return to the town, they were greeted by a few folks who had seen them leave, and they had a lot of questions.

“Did ya get him?”

“How much gold did he steal?”

“Did ya’ll steal his horse too?“

Kageyama was more interested in where Saeko was, and when he asked he was told she was still at the bank. So they made their way over there, and when they knocked on the door, they were greeted by a very excited Saeko.

“Oh thank the heavens, you got it back! I was so worried!” She practically ripped the bag from Kageyama’s grip.

“About us?” Hinata questioned.

“Well, you too. Anyhow, here’s that hundred I promised.” She shoved some bills into Hinata’s hands. “I hope we never do business like this again, but thanks anyways!” The door slammed in front of them.

“Well, here’s your cut,” Hinata said, handing some bills to Kageyama. “Don’t worry, it’s half.”

“Thanks,” Kageyama said, shoving them into his pocket. “After we put up the horses, you wanna come over?”

“Sure. I was gonna barge in anyways.”

“Alright. See you then.” And with that, Kageyama led Duke back to his shed. It was a common occurrence to invite Hinata back, to the point where it would probably just be easier if they lived together. But Kageyama could never find the right time or place to ask, and besides, what if Hinata said no? Maybe he valued having his own place too much, and Kageyama understood that feeling well. He didn’t want to force Hinata to make the awkward decision between Kageyama and his own space. He definitely didn’t want Hinata to feel stifled.

But Hinata seemed to enjoy coming over often enough, which was nice. They didn’t even have sex every time, sometimes they just talked and feel asleep together. Kageyama found he enjoyed both equally.

When Hinata arrived to the room, he was carrying an envelope.

“Are you goin’ to the post office tomorrow?” Hinata asked.

“Yeah, before work. I gotta send some store reports to the owner.”

“Will you send this for me?” Hinata asked, holding up the envelope. “They always close before I’m off work.”

“Alright. Who’s it for?”

“My parents.”

“What’s in it?”

“Some of the money we made today. Also a note sayin’ I ain’t dead. Thought they should know.”

Kageyama chuckled. “You’re a better man than me.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Hinata frowned. “I don’t know a lot about your pops, but it’s okay for you to not be speakin’ to him, y’know. You don’t owe him anythin’.”

“Yeah, I know. Just wish things were different sometimes, that’s all.” 

Hinata put his letter on the desk, and sat down next to Kageyama. “Me too. But for me at least, even if things were better, I’d still want more. I’m always reachin’.” His thigh pressed up against Kageyama’s. “Maybe it’s best to just stay in the moment.”

::

They were woken up at the crack of dawn by the sounds of gunfire and shouting.

Kageyama shot up in bed, untangling himself from Hinata. “Shouyou,” he hissed. “Wake up!”

Hinata was slower to rise, but when he did, he asked, “What’s the ruckus?”

“Something’s happenin’ outside.”

They didn’t even question whether or not to check it out. They dressed quickly, and brought their guns along in case they were needed.

Upon their arrival outside, Kageyama noticed a few things. Sawamura was there, which didn't bode well, everyone looked scared as hell, and there was a group of strange men on horses that were heavily armed. They also looked terrifying. What could they want?

“Ah!” One of the men shouted, pointing at Hinata. “There he is! I was about to knock down every door in town!” 

Oh no. It was the same group that had tried to shoot Hinata at the depot. A glance at Hinata confirmed this. He looked furious.

One of the men on horseback began to address the group of people gathered. “I’m not sure if Shouyou here ever told y’all about where he came from.” Hinata grimaced at the usage of his first name. “The name’s Terushima. I happen to run the little group that this here boy” - he pointed at Hinata - “deserted a while back. And I like to think of myself as the forgivin’ type, but even I can’t let him get away with that.” Terushima’s smirk was sharper than a knife.

“So if you would be so kind,” he continued, spinning his pistol, “as to hand him over, we’ll be sure we’re outta sight before we do anything crooked to him. Wouldn’t want to offend the ladies’ sensibilities.” Kiyoko looked about ready to fire her sensibilities right through his skull. “Oh, and if you don’t cooperate, we’ll burn this ramshackle town to the ground.” His grin turned feral. “So what do ya say?”

Kageyama looked at Hinata, who was staring at the dirt.

“You can’t.”

“I don’t see how that’s your decision.” Hinata sounded cold, detached.

Kageyama’s mind was reeling. He couldn’t actually be considering this.

“They’ll kill you as soon they’re outta town! Maybe they won’t even wait that long, I can’t -”

Hinata grabbed his hands, looked him in the eye. “ _Let me do this_. Please.” He gestured to the crowd of people that had accumulated outside. “I can’t let anyone here die for me. Not the people, not the baby, not _you_. This is my problem. Let me fix it. It’s time to pay what I owe.”

Kageyama’s eyes were watering, but he blinked it away. This wasn’t the time, he still had to do something, stop this somehow. He needed to say more.

“Shouyou, I....” The words were trapped in his throat.

Whether or not Hinata was trying to stop his own tears, they began to fall. He rubbed them away roughly and said, “I know. I’m sorry.”

With that, Hinata removed his hands from Kageyama’s, and turned toward Terushima.

“Done with your teary goodbyes yet? I have a schedule to keep.”

“Fuck you,” Hinata spat. “Someday you’ll get what’s coming.”

“Unfortunately for you, sonny boy, that day ain’t today.” Terushima gestured at one of his men. “Tie ‘im up! We keep our promises here, don’t fret.”

The lackey hopped down from his horse with a length of rope and strode towards Hinata. Unfazed by Hinata’s death glare, he shoved him around and started tying his arms behind his back. Tight. Kageyama could see his wince from where he was standing.

And Kageyama would never know why that, of all things, was the one to set him off, but Hinata’s look of pain made him see red. He no longer had any thoughts for Hinata’s selfless - _stupid_ \- need to repent for his past. All he could think about was that Hinata was going to die.

His pistol was smoking before he could even catch up to what had happened. The man tying up Hinata was now lying dead on the dirt, a bullet-sized hole in his chest.

Immediately Terushima and the other men drew their guns to shoot back - apparently they’d assumed after Hinata surrendered there wouldn’t be any more trouble - but one by one, they fell too, from shots not fired by Kageyama. They only got a couple shots in before they fell off their horses, all of them completely missing Kageyama.

Kageyama snapped his gaze to the group of townspeople, where Daichi, Asahi, and Tanaka had guns pointed at the dead men. 

“Anyone willin’ to die for this town has my gun behind ‘em,” Daichi said.

“I was ready to get ‘em as soon as they rode up!” shouted Tanaka.

Asahi gave a nod of agreement - it wasn’t clear to what. And there was no time to think about it either, when a groan of pain grabbed all their attention.

Hinata had fallen to the ground, hands still tied behind his back, and a splotch of red on the arm of his shirt growing larger by the second.

“Hinata!” Kageyama yelled, running towards him.

He untied Hinata’s hands as fast as he could, and turned him onto his back.

Hinata’s face was contorted with pain, and he shut his eyes after looking at his arm. “That looks pretty bad,” he groaned.

“No, it’ll be fine, don’t wor-”

Sugawata cut Kageyama off, jogging up next to him. “We need to get him to my office! He’s losing a lot of blood, but we can fix this if we act fast.”

Kageyama nodded. “Asahi! Help me carry him!”

Even with Asahi’s help, Hinata was heavy, but Kageyama’s adrenaline more than made up for it. And he didn’t feel sick as long as he didn’t look at the steady flow of blood dripping onto the dirt. 

Sugawara opened the door to his practice for them, and directed them to place Hinata on a large table. Grabbing cloth and gauze, he said, “You can stay, but there’s nothin’ you can do to help. It might be easier to wait outside.” Asahi left with a worried look on his face, but when Kageyama locked eyes with Hinata he couldn’t even think of it.

“I’ll wait here.”

It was awful in that room, Hinata’s anguished groans punctuating the seconds. Kageyama didn’t know what Sugawara was doing, and he didn’t dare to ask. He could hardly even look.

But after some time - it could have been hours, it could have been ten minutes - Sugawara sat back. 

“He’s lucky,” Sugawara began. “The bullet’s not in there, and it didn’t hit the bone. We’ll have to watch out for an infection, but in my opinion, he’ll be alright.”

A tidal wave of relief hit Kageyama, and he dropped his head into his hands. He hadn’t allowed himself to think of anything else than this outcome.

“Hey,” came a weak voice. It was Hinata.

Kageyama stood to walk to the table he laid on. “Hey.” Hinata looked up at him, weary.

“That hurt.”

“Yeah. It looked like it,” Kageyama gave a weak attempt at a laugh.

Hinata eyed him with a strange expression. “Why didn’t you listen to me?”

“Do I ever?” It was supposed to be joking, but it came out far too serious.

“I suppose not,” Hinata huffed. “If you’re just gonna stand there, get me some booze. It really does hurt like a bitch.”

Sugawara handed him a bottle from the counter. “Strange. Everyone says that.” Sugawara shifted his weight. He was itching to say something, it was obvious. “You know, I was wrong about you, Hinata. You’re not so bad.” He smiled at Kageyama. “Apologies to you too. Maybe I was too hasty in my judgement.”

Kageyama waved it off. “It’s fine. It never stopped me anyways.” He grinned, and Hinata smiled back, although his was a little weak.

Sugawara cleared his throat. “Well, I’ll go let everyone know he’s alright. Be back in a few minutes.” 

When he was gone, Hinata sat up slowly, and used his good hand to pull Kageyama down next to him. 

“That thing you said - or tried to say - earlier, I know you didn’t actually say it, but I knew what you meant. And I just wanted to say that...well, I feel the same way too. And even though you never listen to me, I’m glad you didn’t let me die out there, because, well...this is too sappy now, ain’t it?” Hinata hugged him with one arm, tucking his face into Kageyama’s shoulder. “I just would’ve missed you, that’s all.”

Kageyama had been able to stop himself from crying earlier, but apparently happy tears were harder to stop. They fell slowly, one of them landed on Hinata’s hair.

He tilted Hinata’s head up, and kissed him softly. When he pulled back, their eyes met, and Kageyama asked a question he no longer had any reservations about.

“Move in with me?”

Hinata smiled, wide and happy. “I was waiting for you to ask.”

**Author's Note:**

> Me: watches a cowboy show in Nebraska
> 
> Also me: I should write a fic about this
> 
> Seriously though, this was so much fun to write. It started off as just fluff, but you know me, I have to put in some angst somewhere. 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading! Please leave a comment or kudos if you want, those really make my day!
> 
> (Any typos or w/e are mine, I don't have a beta)


End file.
